Evergreen Reporter

The owner of a home healthcare company has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of defrauding the Missouri Medicaid Program and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $800,000. Natavia Boyd-Wells, 40, faces four counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements related to a healthcare matter.

Boyd-Wells, who owns Touch of the Heart Home Health Care LLC, enrolled her company with the Missouri Medicaid Program and the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Care Network in 2020. According to the indictment, she submitted reimbursement claims for services never provided. The fraudulent claims included services for veteran-patients who were actually hospitalized at the time and could not have received home healthcare services.

In 2022, Boyd-Wells allegedly submitted false electronic documentation to Missouri Medicaid after an audit requested evidence of claimed services. She also submitted fraudulent claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs that purportedly showed patients receiving more than 24 hours of care in one day.

As a result, Missouri Medicaid paid at least $197,022 to an account controlled by Boyd-Wells, while the Department of Veterans Affairs made reimbursement payments exceeding $600,000.

Charges outlined in an indictment are accusations only and do not prove guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“This indictment should send a clear message that the VA Office of Inspector General will vigorously investigate those who would seek to defraud VA healthcare programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the Department of Veterans Affairs OIG. He expressed gratitude towards "the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this investigation."

The case was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting.